Christian Oertel, The Cult of Saint Erik in Medieval Sweden. Veneration of a Royal Saint, Twelfth-Sixteenth Centuries

Christian Oertel étudie le culte de saint Éric dans un ouvrage qui mêle synthèse et étude approfondie des sources connues, aussi bien textuelles qu’iconographiques, ce qui n’avait pas été réalisé depuis l’ouvrage collectif dirigé par Bengt Thordeman en 1954. La rareté de la documentation, en particulier pour les époques les plus anciennes, oblige l’historien à considérer toutes les traces disponibles, de l’hagiographie, en particulier la première Vie de saint Éric, datant de la fin du xiiie s..

Fiction du réel, réel du fictionnel : quand le design critique

Nous nous intéressons dans ce mémoire au rôle de la fiction dans le design critique. Nous faisons l’hypothèse que la fiction, telle qu’elle est employée par le design critique, ne permet pas à ce type de design d’atteindre son but, à savoir de faire émerger du débat chez son audience. Nous replaçons le design critique dans son contexte pour essayer de comprendre les raisons de l’apparition de cette pratique. Nous nous intéressons à la distinction entre vrai et faux, réel et irréel pour commencer à comprendre ce à quoi tient la fiction et constater que la fiction ce n’est pas du faux. Ce que cherche ce design par la fiction, c’est d’atteindre la vraisemblance, dont nous donnerons la définition par l’étude de la Poétique d’Aristote. Nous poursuivons avec un questionnement quant à l’utilisation par le design critique de ce que Freud a nommé : l’inquiétante-étrangeté, nous nous demandons si ce type de design doit rechercher l’inquiétante-étrangeté, ou s’il a plutôt affaire avec autre chose. Nous nous demandons ensuite si le design critique tient du mythe, défini par Roland Barthes, auquel nous associerons la notion de storytelling, questionner son retour parallèle au design critique, et donc son emploi dans celui-ci. Nous finirons enfin par introduire le concept de distanciation de Brecht, ainsi que d’historicisation pour amener l’idée que nous défendons au nom d’une meilleure efficience du but du design critique contre une trop forte volonté de fiction et de brouillage

Activation of hydrocarbons and their catalytic oxidation by heterogeneous catalysis

The targets of this thesis were the selective oxidation of hydrocarbons under mild conditions, using cheap and environmentally friendly oxidants and initiators. Three projects are treated; the oxidation of an alkane using O2 and a co-oxidant, the oxidation of toluene using TBHP (tert-butyl hydroperoxide) and finally the oxidation of propane using hydrogen peroxide. C-H bond activation, O2 activation and high conversion with high selectivity were essential points to investigate. In the first project, alkane oxidation was studied in presence of a co-oxidant. The co-oxidant has for purpose to initiate the activation of the alkane and O2, as well as prevent the over-oxidation of the alkane. The co-oxidation of octane using benzaldehyde has been investigated using 1 wt. % AuPd/ C catalyst; the hypothesis is that benzaldehyde oxidation would use a radical mechanism able to activate octane to octanol. Also, the coupling of octanol with activated benzaldehyde would prevent the over-oxidation of octanol by the formation of an ester; octylbenzoate. The aim of the second study was to investigate the selective oxidation of toluene using TBHP at 80 °C with supported noble metal nanoparticle catalysts prepared by sol-immobilisation techniques. Au, Pd and Pt have been use to form mono, bi and trimetallic catalysts of different morphology supported on C and TiO2. These catalysts have been tested for toluene oxidation. The catalyst showing the best activity has been used for further investigation such as reuse test, using H2O2 as oxidant or O2 activation. The third project target was to oxidise propane using H2O2 in mild conditions. 2.5 wt. % Fe/ ZSM-5 (30) has been used to investigate reaction conditions in order to optimise the system. This catalyst has been acid treated; standard and treated catalysts were characterised and analysed to identify the structure and active sites. Role of supports and metals (mono and bimetallic) has been explored in order to improve this system

Comparison of Computed and Measured Performance of a Pulsed Inductive Thruster Operating on Argon Propellant

Pulsed inductive plasma accelerators are electrodeless space propulsion devices where a capacitor is charged to an initial voltage and then discharged through a coil as a high-current pulse that inductively couples energy into the propellant. The field produced by this pulse ionizes the propellant, producing a plasma near the face of the coil. Once a plasma is formed if can be accelerated and expelled at a high exhaust velocity by the Lorentz force arising from the interaction of an induced plasma current and the magnetic field. A recent review of the developmental history of planar-geometry pulsed inductive thrusters, where the coil take the shape of a flat spiral, can be found in Ref. [1]. Two concepts that have employed this geometry are the Pulsed Inductive Thruster (PIT)[2, 3] and the Faraday Accelerator with Radio-frequency Assisted Discharge (FARAD)[4]. There exists a 1-D pulsed inductive acceleration model that employs a set of circuit equations coupled to a one-dimensional momentum equation. The model was originally developed and used by Lovberg and Dailey[2, 3] and has since been nondimensionalized and used by Polzin et al.[5, 6] to define a set of scaling parameters and gain general insight into their effect on thruster performance. The circuit presented in Fig. 1 provides a description of the electrical coupling between the current flowing in the thruster I1 and the plasma current I2. Recently, the model was upgraded to include an equation governing the deposition of energy into various modes present in a pulsed inductive thruster system (acceleration, magnetic flux generation, resistive heating, etc.)[7]. An MHD description of the plasma energy density evolution was tailored to the thruster geometry by assuming only one-dimensional motion and averaging the plasma properties over the spatial dimensions of the current sheet to obtain an equation for the time-evolution of the total energy. The equation set governing the dynamics of the coupled electrodynamic-current sheet system is composed of first-order, coupled ordinary differential equations that can be easily solved numerically without having to resort to much more complex 2-D finite element plasma simulations

Prevalence of iron deficiency anaemia and risk factors in 1,010 adolescent girls from rural Maharashtra, India: a cross-sectional survey

Objective: Iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) is the most common nutritional disorder observed in adolescent girls in India. Our aim was to investigate the prevalence and risk factors associated with IDA in rural Maharashtra, India to address current evidence gaps. Study Design: Cross sectional survey Methods: The study recruited 13 to 17 year old adolescent girls living in 34 villages of Osmanabad district. Data were collected on individual health, dietary, sociodemographic factors, and anthropometric measurements were taken. Haemoglobin (Hb) levels were measured using Sahli’s hemometer. Logistic and linear regressions were used to identify risk factors associated with IDA and Hb level respectively. Results: Among 1,010 adolescent girls (response rate 97.5%), the mean Hb was 10.1 g/dl (standard deviation=1.3), and 87% had anaemia (Hb<12 g/dl). The prevalence of mild (11.0-11.9 g/dl), moderate (8.0-10.9 g/dl) and severe (Hb≤ 7.9 g/dl) anaemia was 17%, 65% and 5% respectively. Anaemia likelihood increased significantly with age (odds ratio (OR): 1.41 per year, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.17 to 1.70). Factors associated with decreased anaemia risk were mid upper arm circumference (MUAC) ≥22 cm (OR: 0.51, 95% CI: 0.31 to 0.82), ≥3 days/week consumption of fruit (OR: 0.35, 95% CI: 0.23 to 0.54) or rice (OR: 0.39, 95% CI: 0.17 to 0.91), and incomplete schooling (OR: 0.47, 95% CI: 0.24 to 0.91). In the final model lower age, MUAC and fruit consumption were significantly associated with Hb level. Conclusion: Anaemia prevalence was extremely high among adolescent girls in rural areas of Maharashtra. Whilst we identified risk factors that could be used for targeting interventions, there is urgent need of comprehensive preventative interventions for the whole adolescent girl population

The role of copper speciation in the low temperature oxidative upgrading of short chain alkanes over Cu/ZSM-5 catalysts

Partial oxidative upgrading of C1–C3 alkanes over Cu/ZSM‐5 catalysts prepared by chemical vapour impregnation (CVI) has been studied. The undoped ZSM‐5 support is itself able to catalyse selective oxidations, for example, methane to methanol, using mild reaction conditions and the green oxidant H2O2. Addition of Cu suppresses secondary oxidation reactions, affording methanol selectivities of up to 97 %. Characterisation studies attribute this ability to population of specific Cu sites below the level of total exchange (Cu/Al<0.5). These species also show activity for radical‐based methane oxidation, with productivities exceeding those of the parent zeolite supports. When tested for ethane and propane oxidation reactions, comparable trends are observe

Abundance and Distribution of Enteric Bacteria and Viruses in Coastal and Estuarine Sediments—a Review

The long term survival of fecal indicator organisms (FIOs) and human pathogenic microorganisms in sediments is important from a water quality, human health and ecological perspective. Typically, both bacteria and viruses strongly associate with particulate matter present in freshwater, estuarine and marine environments. This association tends to be stronger in finer textured sediments and is strongly influenced by the type and quantity of clay minerals and organic matter present. Binding to particle surfaces promotes the persistence of bacteria in the environment by offering physical and chemical protection from biotic and abiotic stresses. How bacterial and viral viability and pathogenicity is influenced by surface attachment requires further study. Typically, long-term association with surfaces including sediments induces bacteria to enter a viable-but-non-culturable (VBNC) state. Inherent methodological challenges of quantifying VBNC bacteria may lead to the frequent under-reporting of their abundance in sediments. The implications of this in a quantitative risk assessment context remain unclear. Similarly, sediments can harbor significant amounts of enteric viruses, however, the factors regulating their persistence remains poorly understood. Quantification of viruses in sediment remains problematic due to our poor ability to recover intact viral particles from sediment surfaces (typically <10%), our inability to distinguish between infective and damaged (non-infective) viral particles, aggregation of viral particles, and inhibition during qPCR. This suggests that the true viral titre in sediments may be being vastly underestimated. In turn, this is limiting our ability to understand the fate and transport of viruses in sediments. Model systems (e.g., human cell culture) are also lacking for some key viruses, preventing our ability to evaluate the infectivity of viruses recovered from sediments (e.g., norovirus). The release of particle-bound bacteria and viruses into the water column during sediment resuspension also represents a risk to water quality. In conclusion, our poor process level understanding of viral/bacterial-sediment interactions combined with methodological challenges is limiting the accurate source apportionment and quantitative microbial risk assessment for pathogenic organisms associated with sediments in aquatic environments

Trends in Body Mass Index among Icelandic Adolescents and Young Adults from 1992 to 2007

Trends in body mass index (BMI) among 51,889 14- to 20-year-old Icelandic adolescents and young adults were examined using data from cross-sectional population surveys conducted from 1992 to 2007. Prevalence of overweight increased for both genders in all age groups, except for 14- and 20-year-old girls. Obesity prevalence increased among boys in all age groups, except for 16-year-olds, and among 15- and 20-year-old girls. The largest increase in obesity rates among both genders was found in the oldest age group. Moreover, not only has the prevalence of obesity increased, but also the extent of obesity has grown more severe among 15- and 17-year-olds boys and among girls in the oldest age group

Análisis de ADN Mitocondrial en restos de hijo putativo de Luis XVI, Rey de Francia y María Antonieta

Carl Wilhelm Naundorff fue sepultado en 1845 en Delft como Luis Charles, Duque de Normandía, “Luis XVII”. Sin embargo, el hijo de Luis XVI y María Antonieta-Luis XVII- falleció oficialmente en el templo de París en 1795. Con el fin de determinar la identidad de Naundorff, se comparó las secuencias de las ondas del ADNmitocondrial (ADNmt) de sus restos con las secuencias obtenidas a partir del cabello de dos hermanas de María Antonieta, de la misma María Antonieta, y con las secuencias obtenidas de las muestras del ADN de dos parientes maternos vivos. La secuencia del ADNmt de una muestra de hueso de Naundorff mostró dos diferencias en los nucleótidos en cuanto a la secuencia del de las tres hermanas y cuatro diferencias en las secuencias de los parientes maternos vivos basado en esta evidencia resulta muy remoto que Naundorff sea el hijo de María Antonieta